Polity Scale Of Supracultural Interaction List
A viewset for viewing and editing Polity Scales of Supracultural Interaction.
GET /api/general/polity-scale-of-supracultural-interactions/
{ "count": 132, "next": "https://seshatdata.com/api/general/polity-scale-of-supracultural-interactions/?page=2", "previous": null, "results": [ { "id": 88, "year_from": -1200, "year_to": -801, "description": "km squared. Around 800 BCE with the Assyrian conquest, the Phoenicians began their extensive campaign of colonizing the Mediterranean.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 8000, "scale_to": 10000, "polity": { "id": 104, "name": "LbAcPho", "start_year": -1200, "end_year": -332, "long_name": "Phoenician Empire", "new_name": "lb_phoenician_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The term 'Phoenicia' refers to a group of allied cities - rather than a politically centralized state - located in the southern Levant, in present-day Lebanon and northern Israel. It is difficult to assign exact dates to this quasi-polity, §REF§ (Röllig 1983) Röllig, Wolfgang. 1983. “The Phoenician Language: Remarks on the Present State of Research.” In Atti Del I. Congresso Internazionale Di Studi Fenici E Punici: Roma, 5-10 Novembre 1979, 375-85. Rome: Istituto per la Civiltà Fenicia e Punica. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KKX2FPFB\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KKX2FPFB</a>. §REF§ but here we focus on the period between c. 1200 BCE and 332 BCE, when the Phoenician city of Tyre fell to Alexander the Great. §REF§ (Briant 2010, 9) Briant, Pierre. 2010. Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction. Translated by Amélie Kuhrt. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2BWW9KRM\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2BWW9KRM</a>. §REF§ The Phoenicians were skilled traders and seafarers. §REF§ (Kaufman 2014, 3-4) Kaufman, Bret. 2014. “Empire without a Voice: Phoenician Iron Metallurgy and Imperial Strategy at Carthage.” PhD Dissertation, Los Angeles, CA: UCLA. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6HWAI37J\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6HWAI37J</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The ruler of a Phoenician city was somewhere between human and divine. He was not a god, but was the highest priest with a privileged relationship to the city's patron deity. §REF§ (Bonnet 2004, 102) Bonnet, Corinne. 2004. I Fenici. Rome: Carocci. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CHKFPEHR\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CHKFPEHR</a>. §REF§ However, his power was not unlimited: merchant families also wielded considerable influence in public affairs and, at least in Byblos, Sidon, and possibly Tyre, the king was assisted by a council of elders. In Tyre, between 605 and 561 BCE, the monarchy was replaced with a republic, in which the government was led by a series of judges known as <i>suffetes</i>, who ruled for only short terms. §REF§ (Etheredge 2011, 122) Etheredge, Laura. 2011. Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B8B3HGFK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B8B3HGFK</a>. §REF§ <br>Reliable population figures for the Phoenician cities are lacking.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-10-23T16:23:53.991090Z", "home_nga": { "id": 10, "name": "Galilee", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "35.303500000000", "latitude": "32.699600000000", "capital_city": "Nazareth", "nga_code": "IL", "fao_country": "Israel", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 61, "name": "Levant", "subregions_list": "Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 89, "year_from": -800, "year_to": -332, "description": "km squared. Around 800 BCE with the Assyrian conquest, the Phoenicians began their extensive campaign of colonizing the Mediterranean.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 20000, "scale_to": 40000, "polity": { "id": 104, "name": "LbAcPho", "start_year": -1200, "end_year": -332, "long_name": "Phoenician Empire", "new_name": "lb_phoenician_emp", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The term 'Phoenicia' refers to a group of allied cities - rather than a politically centralized state - located in the southern Levant, in present-day Lebanon and northern Israel. It is difficult to assign exact dates to this quasi-polity, §REF§ (Röllig 1983) Röllig, Wolfgang. 1983. “The Phoenician Language: Remarks on the Present State of Research.” In Atti Del I. Congresso Internazionale Di Studi Fenici E Punici: Roma, 5-10 Novembre 1979, 375-85. Rome: Istituto per la Civiltà Fenicia e Punica. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KKX2FPFB\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KKX2FPFB</a>. §REF§ but here we focus on the period between c. 1200 BCE and 332 BCE, when the Phoenician city of Tyre fell to Alexander the Great. §REF§ (Briant 2010, 9) Briant, Pierre. 2010. Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction. Translated by Amélie Kuhrt. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2BWW9KRM\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/2BWW9KRM</a>. §REF§ The Phoenicians were skilled traders and seafarers. §REF§ (Kaufman 2014, 3-4) Kaufman, Bret. 2014. “Empire without a Voice: Phoenician Iron Metallurgy and Imperial Strategy at Carthage.” PhD Dissertation, Los Angeles, CA: UCLA. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6HWAI37J\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/6HWAI37J</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The ruler of a Phoenician city was somewhere between human and divine. He was not a god, but was the highest priest with a privileged relationship to the city's patron deity. §REF§ (Bonnet 2004, 102) Bonnet, Corinne. 2004. I Fenici. Rome: Carocci. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CHKFPEHR\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/CHKFPEHR</a>. §REF§ However, his power was not unlimited: merchant families also wielded considerable influence in public affairs and, at least in Byblos, Sidon, and possibly Tyre, the king was assisted by a council of elders. In Tyre, between 605 and 561 BCE, the monarchy was replaced with a republic, in which the government was led by a series of judges known as <i>suffetes</i>, who ruled for only short terms. §REF§ (Etheredge 2011, 122) Etheredge, Laura. 2011. Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B8B3HGFK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/B8B3HGFK</a>. §REF§ <br>Reliable population figures for the Phoenician cities are lacking.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2023-10-23T16:23:53.991090Z", "home_nga": { "id": 10, "name": "Galilee", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "35.303500000000", "latitude": "32.699600000000", "capital_city": "Nazareth", "nga_code": "IL", "fao_country": "Israel", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 61, "name": "Levant", "subregions_list": "Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 112, "year_from": 700, "year_to": 700, "description": " km squared.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 9000000, "scale_to": 9000000, "polity": { "id": 131, "name": "SyCalUm", "start_year": 661, "end_year": 750, "long_name": "Umayyad Caliphate", "new_name": "sy_umayyad_cal", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Umayyad Caliphate was formed in 661 CE by Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan following the assassination of Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad. §REF§ (Madelung 1997, 108, 297) Wilferd Madelung. 1997. <i>The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ It ended with the defeat of the Umayyads by the Abbasids in the Third Fitna (a series of Muslim civil wars) in 750 CE. §REF§ (Esposito, ed. 2003, 691) John L. Esposito, ed. 2003. <i>The Oxford Dictionary of Islam</i>. Oxford: Oxford University Press. §REF§ The Ummayad Caliphs, based in Damascus in Syria, ruled a large territory stretching from the Near East all the way through North Africa and into southern Spain.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The caliph was a tribal patriarch and head of the <i>ummah</i>, the entire Islamic community. The central government of the Umayyad Caliphate was almost non-existent at the start of the period but entered a more developed stage in the mid-8th century. One of the reasons for this lack of central administration was the exceptionally successful Arab-Muslim army combined with the existence of functioning bureaucracies in the former Sassanid and Byzantine domains, which were left largely intact. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 55) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Thus, under Muawiya - the first Ummayad Caliph - the ruler was 'surrounded by Arab chiefs' with no other central administration. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 80-90) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ At Damascus, an administrative system staffed by permanent officials §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 36-38) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ dates from the reigns of al-Malik (685-705 CE) and al-Walid (705-715 CE). §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 80-90) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The caliphs, from their residence in Damascus (661-744 CE) and then Harran (744-750 CE), employed a chamberlain to manage visitors and regulate daily affairs, §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 80-90) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ and maintained an office of the chancery §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 50-51) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ with officials called <i>diwans</i> to manage the collection of taxes and payment of salaries. §REF§ (Kennedy 2001, 88) Hugh N. Kennedy. 2001. <i>The Armies of the Caliphs: Military and Society in the Early Islamic State</i>. London: Routledge. §REF§ In order to impose their authority over the provinces, which had a combined population of up to 33 million, §REF§ (Blankinship 1994, 37-38) Khalid Y. Blankinship. 1994. <i>The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham Ibn 'Abd Al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads</i>. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. §REF§ the Umayyads typically sent civil and military governors (<i>amel</i> and <i>amir</i>). §REF§ (Lambton 2011) Ann K. S. Lambton. 2011. 'Cities iii: Administration and Social Organization', in <i>Encyclopedia Iranica</i> V/6, 607-23; an updated version is available online at <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cities-iii\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cities-iii</a> (accessed 2 April 2017). §REF§ In the regions they conquered, the Ummayads had no choice but to use the resident staff because institutions to train and educate bureaucrats had not yet developed in the Arab Muslim context. In Egypt, for the first century of Umayyad rule, 'all the provincial officials were Christians'. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 17) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ The Umayyad Caliphate was thus an exceptionally multicultural empire with a diverse governmental and cultural heritage.<br>This diversity was reflected in the number of languages spoken across the territory conquered by Muslims: from Basque in the far west to Berber and African Romance languages along the southern shores of the Mediterranean, and Aramaic, Turkic, Hebrew, Armenian and Kurdish in the east. §REF§ (Lapidus 2002, 126) Ira M. Lapidus. 2002. <i>A History of Islamic Societies</i>. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The use of Arabic as an administrative language began in Iraq in 697 CE, but spread outwards to Syria, Egypt and, by 700 CE, Khurasan in modern-day northeastern Iran. §REF§ (Lapidus 2012, 36-38) Ira M. Lapidus. 2012. <i>Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ In Egypt, the adoption of Arabic as the language of local government took over 100 years; initially, almost all papyruses were written in Greek. The first known bilingual Greek-Arabic document dates to 643 CE, and the last to 719. The earliest known Egyptian document written exclusively in Arabic is dated to 709 CE, and Greek was still being used up until 780 CE. §REF§ (Raymond 2000, 23) André Raymond. 2000. <i>Cairo</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "JR: edited long name from Ummayad to Umayyad", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-03-27T09:30:27.298805Z", "home_nga": { "id": 8, "name": "Southern Mesopotamia", "subregion": "Levant-Mesopotamia", "longitude": "44.420000000000", "latitude": "32.470000000000", "capital_city": "Babylon (Hillah)", "nga_code": "IQ", "fao_country": "Iraq", "world_region": "Southwest Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 61, "name": "Levant", "subregions_list": "Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria", "mac_region": { "id": 11, "name": "Southwest Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 66, "year_from": 930, "year_to": 1050, "description": "km squared. The settlers maintained cultural ties with Scandinavia and the British Isles: 'Iceland was a new society, however Icelandic culture perpetuated many of the cultural standards from Scandinavia, especially Norway. While both Norse and Celtic peoples contributed to the founding population they had unequal impacts on the culture of Iceland. Celts appear to have been incorporated into Norse households and appear to have little lasting impact on the cultural and institutional developments that were predominantly Scandinavian in origin. The first settlers claimed lands and established dispersed farmsteads. Many of the economic practices were unsuitable to the fragile Icelandic environment and resulted in deforestation and land erosion, especially in the uplands. As population grew, settlement expanded, and new farmsteads were divided from previous land claims. In 930 A.D. the General Assembly (ALÞINGI) was founded, providing an institution integrating the entire island. The same assembly accepted Christianity as the religion of the land in 1000 A.D. The thirteenth century was a period of escalating conflict (STURLUNGAÖLD) chieftains attempted to exert control beyond their local regions. The system of autonomous chieftains ended after 1262 A.D. when Iceland came under Norwegian rule. The Viking Age expansion into the North Atlantic did not end at Iceland. In the late tenth century Eirík the Red led a major venture to colonize Greenland and his son, Leifur Eiríksson, has been credited with the European discovery of North America. Early Icelanders maintained close ties with Scandinavia and the British Isles. Continental trading and raiding expeditions were common activities for those with the means to take a share in a boat. Their travels sometimes took them as far as Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.' §REF§Bolender, Douglas James and Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for Early Icelanders§REF§ Icelanders also maintained trading relations with Europe: 'The early Icelanders maintained commercial contacts with Europe and obtained goods from Scandinavia, England, the Norse Orkneys, and the Netherlands. The majority of trade, however, was with Norway, both for Norwegian goods and for foreign goods obtained by Norwegian merchants. The limited resources, especially in terms of raw materials for manufactured goods, made Iceland highly dependent on imported goods. Even before the decline and cessation of grain production in Iceland it is unlikely that Iceland ever produced enough cereals to meet its own needs. Of special significance in a feasting economy, grain and malt were essential to ale production. After Christianization imported wine also become essential for the celebration of communion. Many higher quality iron products, for example weapons and armor, could not be produced from local sources and were imported, mostly in finished forms. Other metals - brass, tin, lead, gold, silver, and bronze - were unavailable locally as well as steatite for utensils and stone suitable for making whetstones. Iceland had a limited number of exportable resources and goods. Homespun woolen cloth was the principal export and was a common standard of value in local exchanges. Sulfur, unavailable from any continental source, was a valuable commodity. Falcons and various animal skins - sheep, fox, and cat - were marketable as were cheese and possibly butter. Fish, the current mainstay of the Icelandic economy was not a significant export item in early Iceland.' §REF§Bolender, Douglas James and Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for Early Icelanders§REF§ Wikipedia gives the total geographical extent of the Scandinavian countries (including both Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, i.e. Iceland and Greenland) as 3,425,804 km squared, rounded to 3,400,000 km squared §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries</a>§REF§. This number is rather high due to the inclusion of Greenland. We have imported this number provisionally, but remain open to diverging geographical demarkations. After the conversion to Christianity, Iceland and Scandinavia became part of the greater cultural sphere of Latin Christendom. §REF§Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins§REF§ We have estimated the geographical extent of Latin Christendom to be around 5,600,000 km squared, including Northern, Western, and Central Europe as well as parts of Southern Europe. This figure is only an approximation and therefore open to re-evaluation.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 3400000, "scale_to": 3400000, "polity": { "id": 115, "name": "IsCommw", "start_year": 930, "end_year": 1262, "long_name": "Icelandic Commonwealth", "new_name": "is_icelandic_commonwealth", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "Settlers arrived in Iceland in significant numbers starting from the late 9th century CE, mostly from Norway and the Norse colonies in Scotland and Ireland, bringing with them many people indigenous to the latter. However, language and culture were strongly Norse.<br>The Icelandic Commonwealth (Icel. <i>íslenska þjóðveldið</i>), occasionally called 'free state' or 'republic' (not to be confused with the modern republic) was established in 930 CE according to 12th-century historical documents. It was the first polity to cover the whole of Iceland and the smaller surrounding islands. Its territory did not change during its lifetime.<br>Icelandic society during the Commonwealth was strongly rural and never developed significant urbanization. However, centres of power, wealth and learning gradually emerged in the two bishoprics, monasteries and the homes of the greatest secular lords.<br>Iceland was mostly pagan in the early period but Christianity was accepted in 1000 and the first bishopric established in 1056. This not only brought Iceland closer to Europe but also introduced European culture and learning, and from the early 12th century the Icelanders started to produce significant works of literature in the vernacular but written in the Latin alphabet (sagas). The sagas are usually (at least recently) considered the greatest achievement of the Commonwealth and they flourished in the 13th century (both before and after 1262). However, this was also a time of war and loss of independence, making it difficult to assign it a 'peak' status.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>There are no reliable figures for the total population in Iceland during this period. Common estimates range from 5,000-20,000 in 930 to 40,000-70,000 at the end. The only statistic that is somewhat reliable states that the number of tax-paying farmers around 1100 AD was 4,560. The relationship between this number and the whole population is uncertain.<br>The Commonwealth functioned as a federation of smaller political units with no fixed borders, the godords/chieftaincies (<i>goðorð</i>), with alliances between households led by a chieftain (<i>goði</i> or <i>goðorðsmaður</i>). Laws were common to all and there was a common judiciary system. In Lögrétta leaders of all the godords met once a year to decide on laws, forming the most important part of the proceedings of the <i>Alþingi</i> ('general assembly'), held in summer at Thingvellir. However, there was no common executive branch of government, leaving the godords quite autonomous.<br>The godords started to congeal into territorial lordships with fixed borders in the 12th century (the first one perhaps in the late 11th century), but this process was most rapid around 1200 CE and by 1220 they covered most of Iceland. These lordships functioned as practically independent tiny polities (or 'proto-states') and proceeded to fight each other for supremacy. The ensuing civil wars (<i>Sturlungaöld</i>) ended in 1262 when the Icelanders swore allegiance to the Norwegian crown.<br><i>This description was provided by Axel Kristinsson and edited by Jenny Reddish.</i>", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 3, "name": "Iceland", "subregion": "Northern Europe", "longitude": "-21.891497000000", "latitude": "64.133088000000", "capital_city": "Reykjavik", "nga_code": "IS", "fao_country": "Iceland", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 17, "name": "Northern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iceland, Scandinavia, Finland, Baltics", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 67, "year_from": 1051, "year_to": 1262, "description": "km squared. The settlers maintained cultural ties with Scandinavia and the British Isles: 'Iceland was a new society, however Icelandic culture perpetuated many of the cultural standards from Scandinavia, especially Norway. While both Norse and Celtic peoples contributed to the founding population they had unequal impacts on the culture of Iceland. Celts appear to have been incorporated into Norse households and appear to have little lasting impact on the cultural and institutional developments that were predominantly Scandinavian in origin. The first settlers claimed lands and established dispersed farmsteads. Many of the economic practices were unsuitable to the fragile Icelandic environment and resulted in deforestation and land erosion, especially in the uplands. As population grew, settlement expanded, and new farmsteads were divided from previous land claims. In 930 A.D. the General Assembly (ALÞINGI) was founded, providing an institution integrating the entire island. The same assembly accepted Christianity as the religion of the land in 1000 A.D. The thirteenth century was a period of escalating conflict (STURLUNGAÖLD) chieftains attempted to exert control beyond their local regions. The system of autonomous chieftains ended after 1262 A.D. when Iceland came under Norwegian rule. The Viking Age expansion into the North Atlantic did not end at Iceland. In the late tenth century Eirík the Red led a major venture to colonize Greenland and his son, Leifur Eiríksson, has been credited with the European discovery of North America. Early Icelanders maintained close ties with Scandinavia and the British Isles. Continental trading and raiding expeditions were common activities for those with the means to take a share in a boat. Their travels sometimes took them as far as Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.' §REF§Bolender, Douglas James and Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for Early Icelanders§REF§ Icelanders also maintained trading relations with Europe: 'The early Icelanders maintained commercial contacts with Europe and obtained goods from Scandinavia, England, the Norse Orkneys, and the Netherlands. The majority of trade, however, was with Norway, both for Norwegian goods and for foreign goods obtained by Norwegian merchants. The limited resources, especially in terms of raw materials for manufactured goods, made Iceland highly dependent on imported goods. Even before the decline and cessation of grain production in Iceland it is unlikely that Iceland ever produced enough cereals to meet its own needs. Of special significance in a feasting economy, grain and malt were essential to ale production. After Christianization imported wine also become essential for the celebration of communion. Many higher quality iron products, for example weapons and armor, could not be produced from local sources and were imported, mostly in finished forms. Other metals - brass, tin, lead, gold, silver, and bronze - were unavailable locally as well as steatite for utensils and stone suitable for making whetstones. Iceland had a limited number of exportable resources and goods. Homespun woolen cloth was the principal export and was a common standard of value in local exchanges. Sulfur, unavailable from any continental source, was a valuable commodity. Falcons and various animal skins - sheep, fox, and cat - were marketable as were cheese and possibly butter. Fish, the current mainstay of the Icelandic economy was not a significant export item in early Iceland.' §REF§Bolender, Douglas James and Beierle, John: eHRAF Cultural Summary for Early Icelanders§REF§ Wikipedia gives the total geographical extent of the Scandinavian countries (including both Northern Europe and the North Atlantic, i.e. Iceland and Greenland) as 3,425,804 km squared, rounded to 3,400,000 km squared §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_countries</a>§REF§. This number is rather high due to the inclusion of Greenland. We have imported this number provisionally, but remain open to diverging geographical demarkations. After the conversion to Christianity, Iceland and Scandinavia became part of the greater cultural sphere of Latin Christendom. §REF§Árni Daniel Júlíusson and Axel Kristissen 2017, pers. comm. to E. Brandl and D. Mullins§REF§ We have estimated the geographical extent of Latin Christendom to be around 5,600,000 km squared, including Northern, Western, and Central Europe as well as parts of Southern Europe. This figure is only an approximation and therefore open to re-evaluation.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 5600000, "scale_to": 5600000, "polity": { "id": 115, "name": "IsCommw", "start_year": 930, "end_year": 1262, "long_name": "Icelandic Commonwealth", "new_name": "is_icelandic_commonwealth", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "Settlers arrived in Iceland in significant numbers starting from the late 9th century CE, mostly from Norway and the Norse colonies in Scotland and Ireland, bringing with them many people indigenous to the latter. However, language and culture were strongly Norse.<br>The Icelandic Commonwealth (Icel. <i>íslenska þjóðveldið</i>), occasionally called 'free state' or 'republic' (not to be confused with the modern republic) was established in 930 CE according to 12th-century historical documents. It was the first polity to cover the whole of Iceland and the smaller surrounding islands. Its territory did not change during its lifetime.<br>Icelandic society during the Commonwealth was strongly rural and never developed significant urbanization. However, centres of power, wealth and learning gradually emerged in the two bishoprics, monasteries and the homes of the greatest secular lords.<br>Iceland was mostly pagan in the early period but Christianity was accepted in 1000 and the first bishopric established in 1056. This not only brought Iceland closer to Europe but also introduced European culture and learning, and from the early 12th century the Icelanders started to produce significant works of literature in the vernacular but written in the Latin alphabet (sagas). The sagas are usually (at least recently) considered the greatest achievement of the Commonwealth and they flourished in the 13th century (both before and after 1262). However, this was also a time of war and loss of independence, making it difficult to assign it a 'peak' status.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>There are no reliable figures for the total population in Iceland during this period. Common estimates range from 5,000-20,000 in 930 to 40,000-70,000 at the end. The only statistic that is somewhat reliable states that the number of tax-paying farmers around 1100 AD was 4,560. The relationship between this number and the whole population is uncertain.<br>The Commonwealth functioned as a federation of smaller political units with no fixed borders, the godords/chieftaincies (<i>goðorð</i>), with alliances between households led by a chieftain (<i>goði</i> or <i>goðorðsmaður</i>). Laws were common to all and there was a common judiciary system. In Lögrétta leaders of all the godords met once a year to decide on laws, forming the most important part of the proceedings of the <i>Alþingi</i> ('general assembly'), held in summer at Thingvellir. However, there was no common executive branch of government, leaving the godords quite autonomous.<br>The godords started to congeal into territorial lordships with fixed borders in the 12th century (the first one perhaps in the late 11th century), but this process was most rapid around 1200 CE and by 1220 they covered most of Iceland. These lordships functioned as practically independent tiny polities (or 'proto-states') and proceeded to fight each other for supremacy. The ensuing civil wars (<i>Sturlungaöld</i>) ended in 1262 when the Icelanders swore allegiance to the Norwegian crown.<br><i>This description was provided by Axel Kristinsson and edited by Jenny Reddish.</i>", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 3, "name": "Iceland", "subregion": "Northern Europe", "longitude": "-21.891497000000", "latitude": "64.133088000000", "capital_city": "Reykjavik", "nga_code": "IS", "fao_country": "Iceland", "world_region": "Europe" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 17, "name": "Northern Europe", "subregions_list": "Iceland, Scandinavia, Finland, Baltics", "mac_region": { "id": 5, "name": "Europe" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 9, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared. Entirety of the Qing Empire", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 11300000, "scale_to": 11300000, "polity": { "id": 470, "name": "CnHQngL", "start_year": 1701, "end_year": 1895, "long_name": "Hmong - Late Qing", "new_name": "cn_hmong_1", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Hmong are an agricultural people who have inhabited southern China for about 2000 years. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ Made up of several distinct cultures, they are also known as the Miao, an insulting term that loosely translates to 'barbarians' or 'bumpkins'. §REF§ (Fadiman 1997) Fadiman, Anne. 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. §REF§ The Qing Dynasty was marked by a series of Hmong uprisings, first in western Hunan from 1795 to 1806 CE, and then in Guizhou from 1854 to 1872. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Throughout most of Hmong history, Chinese governmental control was imposed indirectly through native headmen known as <i>tusi</i>, who were responsible for keeping the peace, tax collection and organizing corvée labour. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ During the Republican period, the Chinese government attempted to assimilate the Hmong as much as possible and heavily discouraged displays of Hmong ethnicity. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ <br>In 1954, the population of the Hmong was estimated at 150,000. §REF§ (Graham 1954, 1) Graham, David Crockett. 1954. Songs and Stories of the Ch’uan Miao. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TWKSXKI8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TWKSXKI8</a>. §REF§ Secure population estimates for earlier periods are lacking but the Hmong may have numbered around 200,000 during the Qing Dynasty.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-17T15:40:48.319562Z", "home_nga": { "id": 22, "name": "Southern China Hills", "subregion": "South China", "longitude": "103.991730960000", "latitude": "27.538834142800", "capital_city": "Guizhou", "nga_code": "YUN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 59, "name": "South China", "subregions_list": "Yangtze Basin and South China", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 8, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared. The Hmong inhabited several Chinese provinces: 'The Ch'uan Miao are an ethnic group living on the borders of Szechwan, Kweichow, and Yunnan Provinces, western China. The country is very mountainous with numerous peaks rising 3,000 to 6,000 feet above sea level. There are many streams, forests, waterfalls, perpendicular or overhanging cliffs, natural caves and natural bridges, and deepholes or pits where the water disappears into the bowels of the earth. While the roads between the Chinese towns and villages are generally paved with stones, most of the roads are narrow footpaths up and down the steep mountainsides or through fields and forests.' §REF§Graham, David Crockett 1954. “Songs And Stories Of The Ch’Uan Miao\", 1§REF§ This factor combines with their cultural heterogeneity to make the identification of a scale of supracultural interaction more difficult: 'The various Miao groups are for the most part an unstratified agricultural people found in the uplands of several provinces of China and related to the Hmong of Southeast Asia. They are distinguished by language, dress, historical traditions, and cultural practice from neighboring ethnic groups and the dominant Han Chinese. They are not culturally homogeneous and the differences between local Miao cultures are often as great as between Miao and non-Miao neighbors. The term \"Miao\" is Chinese, and means \"weeds\" or \"sprouts.\" Chinese minority policies since the 1950s treat these diverse groups as a single nationality and associate them with the San Miao Kingdom of central China mentioned in histories of the Han dynasty (200 BC-AD 200). About half of China’s Miao are located in Guizhou Province. Another 34 percent are evenly divided between Yunnan Province and western Hunan Province. The remainder are mainly found in Sichuan and Guangxi, with a small number in Guangdong and Hainan. Some of the latter may have been resettled there during the Qing dynasty. The wide dispersion makes it difficult to generalize about ecological settings. Miao settlements are found anywhere from a few hundred meters above sea level to elevations of 1,400 meters or more. The largest number are uplands people, often living at elevations over 1,200 meters and located at some distance from urban centers or the lowlands and river valleys where the Han are concentrated. Often, these upland villages and hamlets are interspersed with those of other minorities such as Yao, Dong, Zhuang, Yi, Hui, and Bouyei.' §REF§Diamond, Norma: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Miao§REF§ 'Miao is the official Chinese term for four distinct groups of people who are only distantly related through language or culture: the Hmu people of southeast Guizhou, the Qo Xiong people of west Hunan, the A-Hmao people of Yunnan, and the Hmong people of Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Yunnan (see China: People). [...] The Miao are related in language and some other cultural features to the Yao; among these peoples the two groups with the closest degree of relatedness are the Hmong (Miao) and the Iu Mien (Yao).' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.britannica.com/topic/Miao\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.britannica.com/topic/Miao</a>§REF§ 'The customs and histories of the four Miao groups are quite different, and they speak mutually unintelligible languages. Closest linguistically to the Hmong are the A-Hmao, but the two groups still cannot understand each others’ languages. Of all the Miao peoples, only the Hmong have migrated out of China.' §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.britannica.com/topic/Miao\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.britannica.com/topic/Miao</a>§REF§ Chinese authors tend to group them with other non-Chinese 'hill people' inhabiting several East and South East Asian countries: 'The migration of the Miao in recent times, due to the repeated disturbances in Kweichow, has reached eastward only to the west of the Yüan-chiang River, and northward to the south bank of the Yangtze River. Since further on in their two directions the terrain becomes less hilly and is more densely populated, there is no land for the Miao to move into. Even if there were land available, the damp, hot climate would be unsuitable for them to live in. The spread of the Miao southeastward was along the Nan Ling mountains 25 and stopped west of the Kwei-chiang River. Their movement westward met no obstacles because Yunnan, Tonkin, and Laos are all spacious and thinly populated, and now they have reached the east bank of the Nu-chiang. The emigration of the Miao is the latest among the movements of the peoples of the southwest. Yunnan and Indochina, although spacious and thinly populated as stated, have their arable areas in the mountains already occupied by the Lolo and other hill people. When the Miao arrived last they could not find extensive hilly country for living together as a tribe, and were forced to scatter, each to find his own way. Furthermore, being refugees from political turmoil, they lacked organization and definite destinations. In general, depending on hilly areas where they could settle down, they moved farther and farther, and thus their area became increasingly extensive.' §REF§Ling, Shun-sheng, Yifu Ruey, and Lien-en Tsao 1947. “Report On An Investigation Of The Miao Of Western Hunan”, 45§REF§ Hmong communities nevertheless interacted culturally with Chinese urban and agricultural populations: 'Several millions of these other peoples still live in the southern provinces of China. They are the Tai, the Lo-lo, and the Miao. Like the Chinese peasants of southern China, all of these people are Iron-Age agriculturalists, growing rice and other grains, keeping a few pigs and cattle, living in villages of a few hundred persons, and trading their surplus agricultural products and handicraft products in the market towns for cutting tools and other manufactured objects. The general economic adjustment to the environment is the same for all of these peoples. The differences consist chiefly of language and minor social usages. A difference of another order, however, sharply divides the dominant from the minor peoples - the hsien towns and the provincial cities are all chiefly inhabited and run by Chinese. Thus the Miao, Lo-lo, and Tai have no class of artisans' and traders, no urban populations; they are practically all peasants. Being dependent on the Chinese for their manufactured products, their material culture shows few visible differences from the Chinese. A western traveler might easily go through one of their villages while the women were away in the fields without knowing that he had seen non-Chinese people, for their faces look no different, and the costumes of the men are the same, while the houses, though perhaps poorer, do not deviate from ordinary rural Chinese architectural standards except for the layout of the village. Unless he were a very persistent and hardy traveler, however, the chances that he would reach such a village are remote, for these people inhabit refuge areas, and their homes are tucked away in the higher valleys and on the less fertile mountain slopes. Along the larger rivers, the main highroads of China, the traveler would see only Chinese.' §REF§Mickey, Margaret Portia 1947. “Cowrie Shell Miao Of Kweichow”, viia§REF§ Despite of these differences between Hmong groups and the Chinese majority, eHRAF groups Hmong societies with East Asia §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/regionsCultures.do#region=1\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/regionsCultures.do#region=1</a>§REF§. According to Wikipedia, East Asia covers an area of 11,839,074 km2 §REF§<a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asia</a>§REF§.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 11839074, "scale_to": 11839074, "polity": { "id": 471, "name": "CnHChin", "start_year": 1895, "end_year": 1941, "long_name": "Hmong - Early Chinese", "new_name": "cn_hmong_2", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Hmong are an agricultural people who have inhabited southern China for about 2000 years. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ Made up of several distinct cultures, they are also known as the 'Miao', an insulting term that loosely translates to 'barbarians' or 'bumpkins'. §REF§ (Fadiman 1997) Fadiman, Anne. 1997. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. §REF§ The Qing Dynasty was marked by a series of Hmong uprisings, first in western Hunan from 1795 to 1806 CE, and then in Guizhou from 1854 to 1872. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>Throughout most of Hmong history, Chinese governmental control was imposed indirectly through native headmen known as <i>tusi</i>, who were responsible for keeping the peace, tax collection and organizing corvée labour. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ During the Republican period, the Chinese government attempted to assimilate the Hmong as much as possible and heavily discouraged displays of Hmong ethnicity. §REF§ (Diamond 2009, 3) Diamond, Norma. 2009. “Culture Summary: Miao.” eHRAF World Cultures. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=ae05-000</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/Z9NGT72X</a>. §REF§ <br>In 1954, the population of the Hmong was estimated at 150,000. §REF§ (Graham 1954, 1) Graham, David Crockett. 1954. Songs and Stories of the Ch’uan Miao. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TWKSXKI8\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/TWKSXKI8</a>. §REF§ Secure population estimates for earlier periods are lacking but the Hmong may have numbered around 200,000 during the Qing Dynasty.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-17T15:41:17.246418Z", "home_nga": { "id": 22, "name": "Southern China Hills", "subregion": "South China", "longitude": "103.991730960000", "latitude": "27.538834142800", "capital_city": "Guizhou", "nga_code": "YUN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 59, "name": "South China", "subregions_list": "Yangtze Basin and South China", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 86, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": null, "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 2175000, "scale_to": 2175000, "polity": { "id": 39, "name": "KhChenl", "start_year": 550, "end_year": 825, "long_name": "Chenla", "new_name": "kh_chenla", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "According to Chinese records, Chenla (also known as Zhenla) §REF§ (Miksic 2007, 426) John N. Miksic. 2007. <i>Historical Dictionary of Ancient Southeast Asia</i>. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. §REF§ was the polity that ruled over much of mainland Southeast Asia after the decline of Funan. §REF§ (Southworth 2004, 324) William A. Southworth. 2004. 'Chenla', in <i>Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopaedia</i>, edited by Keat Gin Ooi, 324-26. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. §REF§ As with Funan, this was likely not a unitary state, but rather a cluster of competing small city-states. §REF§ (Higham 2014, 831) Charles Higham. 2014. 'From the Iron Age to Angkor: New Light on the Origins of a State'. <i>Antiquity</i> 88: 822-35. §REF§ These states occupied much of modern Cambodia and northwestern Thailand, with sites all across the Mekong River Basin, and particularly dense clusters just before the river's delta, in the Tonlé Sap region, and in the Upper Mun Valley. §REF§ (Higham 2014, 831) Charles Higham. 2014. 'From the Iron Age to Angkor: New Light on the Origins of a State'. <i>Antiquity</i> 88: 822-35. §REF§ With respect to Chenla's chronological boundaries, many authors date its beginning to the mid-6th century, §REF§ (Higham 2014, 831) Charles Higham. 2014. 'From the Iron Age to Angkor: New Light on the Origins of a State'. <i>Antiquity</i> 88: 822-35. §REF§ that is, at the beginning of Funan's century-long decline. §REF§ (Hall 2010, 60-61) Kenneth R. Hall. 2010. <i>A History of Early Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade and Societal Development, 100-1500</i>. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. §REF§ This is the chronology we follow, although it is worth noting that, according to the Chinese records, Chenla only conquered Funan in the 7th century. §REF§ (Miksic 2007, 426-27) John N. Miksic. 2007. <i>Historical Dictionary of Ancient Southeast Asia</i>. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press. §REF§ The Chenla era came to a close at the turn of the the 9th century with the beginning of the Angkor period, traditionally dated from Jayavarman II's coronation ceremony in 802 CE. §REF§ (Higham 2014, 254) Charles Higham. 2014. <i>Early Mainland Southeast Asia: From First Humans to Angkor</i>. Bangkok: River Books. §REF§ <br>Population and political organization<br>Although Chenla was probably a cluster of competing centres rather than a unitary polity, inscriptions suggest that there was an overall political hierarchy, at the top of which sat a <i>vrah kamraten</i>, that is, most likely, a deified ruler §REF§ (Higham 2014, 831) Charles Higham. 2014. 'From the Iron Age to Angkor: New Light on the Origins of a State'. <i>Antiquity</i> 88: 822-35. §REF§ Below this ruler, there was a series of elite ranks whose relationship to each other is not always clear, though no rank was higher than that of <i>pura</i>. §REF§ (Vickery 1998, 24) Michael Vickery. 1998. <i>Society, Economics, and Politics in pre-Angkor Cambodia: The 7th-8th Centuries</i>. Chicago: Centre for East Asian Cultural Studies. §REF§ At the local level, <i>poñ</i> (settlement chiefs) exercised their authority over individual temples, which were important economic as well as ritual centres for their sustaining populace. §REF§ (Higham 2014, 831-32) Charles Higham. 2014. 'From the Iron Age to Angkor: New Light on the Origins of a State'. <i>Antiquity</i> 88: 822-35. §REF§ <br>No overall population estimates could be found in the literature, but the largest settlement probably housed over 20,000 families, §REF§ (Higham 2014, 293) Charles Higham. 2014. <i>Early Mainland Southeast Asia: From First Humans to Angkor</i>. Bangkok: River Books. §REF§ and Chinese records describe Chenla as 'a wealthy and militarily powerful country with over 30 cities'. §REF§ (Coe 2003, 60) Michael Coe. 2003. <i>Angkor and the Khmer Civilization</i>. London: Thames & Hudson. §REF§ ", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-05-08T12:55:13.437877Z", "home_nga": { "id": 17, "name": "Cambodian Basin", "subregion": "Siam", "longitude": "103.866700000000", "latitude": "13.412500000000", "capital_city": "Angkor Wat", "nga_code": "KH", "fao_country": "Cambodia", "world_region": "Southeast Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 41, "name": "Mainland", "subregions_list": "Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, south Vietnam", "mac_region": { "id": 10, "name": "Southeast Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 42, "text": "a new_private_comment_text new approach for polity" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 13, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": "km squared.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 2000000, "scale_to": 3000000, "polity": { "id": 425, "name": "CnNSong", "start_year": 960, "end_year": 1127, "long_name": "Northern Song", "new_name": "cn_northern_song_dyn", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The Northern Song (or Sung) Dynasty was a period of great economic advancement, population growth, urbanization, and political change in China. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 136) Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 1996. <i>The Cambridge Illustrated History of China</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Eleventh-century China under the Song has been called the 'most advanced place in the world' at that time. §REF§ (Weatherhead East Asian Institute 2008) Weatherhead East Asian Institute. 2008. 'China in 1000 AD: The Most Advanced Society in the World'. Asian Topics on Asia for Educators: The Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). Columbia University. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/</a>. Accessed 15 March 2017. §REF§ The Northern Song government ruled from its capital in Kaifeng, while the Southern Song were based in Hangzhou.<br>The century between the fall of the Tang dynasty and beginning of the Song dynasty was characterized by the rise of powerful warlords in the south and political turmoil in the north. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 136) Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 1996. <i>The Cambridge Illustrated History of China</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The first Song emperor, Emperor Taizu, reunified the Yangtze River Valley and South China. §REF§ (Meyer 1994, 217) Milton W. Meyer. 1994. <i>China: A Concise History</i>. Lanham, MD: Littlefield Adams. §REF§ The territory held by the Song was smaller than that held by previous powerful dynasties, and much of North China was still dominated by outside rule. §REF§ (Meyer 1994, 217) Milton W. Meyer. 1994. <i>China: A Concise History</i>. Lanham, MD: Littlefield Adams. §REF§ <br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Song government was marked by the increasing importance of the civil service examination and the rise of Confucianism. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 136) Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 1996. <i>The Cambridge Illustrated History of China</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ The prominence of the civil service examination led to the emergence of a central government governed by scholar-officials rather than by aristocrats, as was traditionally the case. The government was headed by a powerful emperor and featured a large central bureaucracy. §REF§ (Hartman 2015, 20, 88) Charles Hartman. 2015. 'Sung government and politics', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Volume 5: The Five Dynasties and Sung China, 960-1279 AD, Part 2</i>, edited by J. W. Chaffee and D. Twitchett, 21-138. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ <br>The Song period saw rapid commercial and industrial expansion. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 144) Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 1996. <i>The Cambridge Illustrated History of China</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Agriculture, paper-making, printing, and iron-working flourished, §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 141-42) Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 1996. <i>The Cambridge Illustrated History of China</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Weatherhead East Asian Institute 2008) Weatherhead East Asian Institute. 2008. 'China in 1000 AD: The Most Advanced Society in the World'. Asian Topics on Asia for Educators: The Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). Columbia University. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/</a>. Accessed 15 March 2017. §REF§ and paper money was first produced in China under the Song. §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 142) Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 1996. <i>The Cambridge Illustrated History of China</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ Foreign trade increased as the state expanded its trading networks. §REF§ (Weatherhead East Asian Institute 2008) Weatherhead East Asian Institute. 2008. 'China in 1000 AD: The Most Advanced Society in the World'. Asian Topics on Asia for Educators: The Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). Columbia University. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/</a>. Accessed 15 March 2017. §REF§ <br>Although it is clear that the Song Dynasty was a period of massive population growth and urbanization, §REF§ (Weatherhead East Asian Institute 2008) Weatherhead East Asian Institute. 2008. 'China in 1000 AD: The Most Advanced Society in the World'. Asian Topics on Asia for Educators: The Song Dynasty in China (960-1279). Columbia University. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/song/</a>. Accessed 15 March 2017. §REF§ there is some disagreement about exact population numbers. Some scholars agree that the population had reached around 100 million by 1000 CE, §REF§ (Ebrey 1996, 141) Patricia Buckley Ebrey. 1996. <i>The Cambridge Illustrated History of China</i>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§ §REF§ (Mote 2003, 164) Frederick W. Mote. 2003. <i>Imperial China: 900-1800</i>. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. §REF§ while others believe it was closer to 60 million. §REF§ (Hartman 2015, 29) Charles Hartman. 2015. 'Sung government and politics', in <i>The Cambridge History of China, Volume 5: The Five Dynasties and Sung China, 960-1279 AD, Part 2</i>, edited by J. W. Chaffee and D. Twitchett, 21-138. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. §REF§", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": "", "created_date": null, "modified_date": "2024-01-04T15:57:28.881607Z", "home_nga": { "id": 20, "name": "Middle Yellow River Valley", "subregion": "North China", "longitude": "112.517587000000", "latitude": "34.701825000000", "capital_city": "Luoyang", "nga_code": "CN", "fao_country": "China", "world_region": "East Asia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 58, "name": "North China", "subregions_list": "North China without Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang", "mac_region": { "id": 4, "name": "East Asia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] }, { "id": 5, "year_from": null, "year_to": null, "description": " km squared. Greco-Persian area corresponding to Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Transoxania.", "note": null, "finalized": true, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "tag": "TRS", "is_disputed": false, "is_uncertain": false, "expert_reviewed": true, "drb_reviewed": false, "name": "scale_of_supra-cultural_interaction", "scale_from": 4000000, "scale_to": 4000000, "polity": { "id": 467, "name": "AfTochr", "start_year": -129, "end_year": 29, "long_name": "Tocharians", "new_name": "af_tocharian", "polity_tag": "LEGACY", "general_description": "The period of Sogdian and Bactrian history between the disintegration of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom in the late 2nd century BCE and the rise of the Kushan Empire in the 1st century CE is poorly understood. The region was politically fragmented and the local settled populations were subjected to nomadic invasions, notably by a group of pastoralists and traders known to us by their Chinese name, Yuezhi. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ §REF§ (Liu 2001, 264-65) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ The Yuezhi are also sometimes referred to as 'Tochari' by scholars who believe they spoke a Tocharian language, part of an extinct Indo-European language group. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ (Others argue that their original language was eastern Iranic or proto-Turkic.) §REF§ (Hill 2009, 312) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ <br>In the mid-1st millennium BCE and perhaps even earlier, the Yuezhi were living on the steppes to the north of China. §REF§ (Liu 2001, 264-65) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ However, after coming into conflict with other nomadic groups, the Xiongnu and Wusun, they migrated towards Sogdiana. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ By 129 BCE, when the Han Chinese diplomat Zhang Qian visited the Yuezhi court on the Oxus river, they were ruling over a region that included parts of the old Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian kingdom. §REF§ (Liu 2001, 264-65) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ <br>In the early 1st century CE, the first Kushan king, Kujula Kadphises, seized power and began ruling over south-eastern Sogdiana, marking the end of our Yuezhi period. §REF§ (Hill 2009, 345) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ Kujula Kadphises was probably a member of one of five Yuezhi factions or subtribes, which he succeeded in unifying through military conquest, §REF§ (Hill 2009, 345) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ but even this is disputed.<br><i>Population and political organization</i><br>The Yuezhi in Bactria and Sogdiana seem to have been organized into a federation of five tribes that competed for political supremacy in the new territory. §REF§ (Liu 2001, 272) Liu, Xinru. 2001. \"Migration and Settlement of the Yuezhi-Kushan: Interaction and Interdependence of Nomadic and Sedentary Societies.\" Journal of World History 12 (2): 261-92. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/QZA3GBJ7</a>. §REF§ There is no written or numismatic evidence of a centralized Yuezhi state with a single paramount ruler before the rise of Kujula Kadphises. §REF§ (Hill 2009, 345) Hill, John E. 2009. Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. An Annotated Translation of the Chronicle on the \"Western Regions\" from the Hou Hanshu. Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/67NGJHIK</a>. §REF§ Historian Craig Benjamin has characterized Yuezhi control over the sedentary population of northern Bactria and Sogdia as that of a militarily superior ruling dynasty of nomads, 'pastoralist conquerors' whose 'nominal sovereignty' was acknowledged by the locals because they feared violence if they refused to submit. §REF§ (Benjamin 2006) Benjamin, Craig. 2006. \"The Yuezhi Migration and Sogdia.\" In Ēran Ud Anērān: Studies Presented to Boris Ilich Marshak on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Matteo Compareti, Paola Raffeta, and Gianroberto Scarcia, Electronic version. Transoxiana Webfestschrift Series I. <a class=\"external free\" href=\"http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.transoxiana.org/Eran/Articles/benjamin.html</a>. Seshat URL: <a class=\"external free\" href=\"https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX\" rel=\"nofollow\">https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/KEWTMPWX</a>. §REF§ <br>Secure estimates for the combined population of the ruling Yuezhi and the settled population under their control in this period are lacking.", "shapefile_name": null, "private_comment": null, "created_date": null, "modified_date": null, "home_nga": { "id": 23, "name": "Sogdiana", "subregion": "Turkestan", "longitude": "66.938170000000", "latitude": "39.631284000000", "capital_city": "Samarkand", "nga_code": "UZ", "fao_country": "Uzbekistan", "world_region": "Central Eurasia" }, "home_seshat_region": { "id": 8, "name": "Afghanistan", "subregions_list": "Afghanistan", "mac_region": { "id": 3, "name": "Central and Northern Eurasia" } }, "private_comment_n": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" } }, "comment": null, "private_comment": { "id": 1, "text": "NO_PRIVATE_COMMENTS" }, "citations": [], "curator": [] } ] }